Pepperdine 5, Furman 2
MALIBU, Calif. – Freshman Adam Steryous defeated 27th-ranked Alex Sarkissian at flight one singles as the Furman men’s tennis team fell at No. 42 Pepperdine, 5-2, Tuesday at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu, Calif.
The match was a homecoming of sorts for Paladin head coach Kelly Jones, who won back-to-back NCAA Doubles Championships for Pepperdine in 1984 and 1985. Jones was inducted into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.
Steryous dropped the first set, 6-4, to Sarkissian before winning the second set in a tie-breaker, 7-1. The duo battled to a 6-6 tie in a final tiebreaker, then Steryous notched three-straight points to take a 9-6 advantage. Sarkissian served to score, before Steryous served out the final point for a 10-7 victory.
Sophomore Ben Horst claimed the Paladins’ other point of the day, picking up a 7-5, 2-6, 10-5 win over RJ Evangelista at flight six.
The Waves clinched the doubles point to open the match, as the 15th-ranked duo of Sarkissian and Francis Alcantara defeated junior Jacob Behal and Steryous, 8-4, in the top match-up. Senior Joel Cook and sophomore Matt Browne evened the score with an 8-5 victory over Alex Giannini and Tom Hill at number two, then Stefan Menichella and rakshay Thakkar posted an 8-7(10-8) win versus senior Alex Christ and Horst in the decisive flight three contest.
Pepperdine claimed victories in singles at flights two through five, as Alcantara bested Browne, 6-4, 6-2, at number two, and Menichella recorded a 6-3, 6-3 win over Behal at flight three. Pedro Leme topped Christ, 6-2, 6-2, at number four, then Hill defeated Cook, 6-4, 6-4, in the number five match-up.
Furman (6-6, 1-0 SoCon) concludes its Spring Break trip Thursday when the Paladins play at Cal Poly at 4 p.m.
North Florida 4, UNCG 3
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The UNCG men’s tennis’ winning streak came to an end at the hands of North Florida as the Ospreys defeated the Spartans, 4-3, Tuesday at the UNF Tennis Complex.
The Spartans dropped the doubles point after loosing the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches. Daniel Mack and Nazhone Wilkins fell first to Zach Goldberg and Mark Hamill, 8-4. At No. 2 doubles, Gaston Murray and Cameron Smith lost 8-4 to Yannick Zuern and Caio Gomes. James Dougherty and Randy Phillips earned UNCG’s sole doubles victory over Norbert Nemcsek and Jack Findel-Hawkins 8-7 after a 7-5 tiebreaker win.
In singles play, Dougherty defeated Gomes in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1 singles. At No. 3 singles, Murray fell in a hard fought two set match. Nemscek won set one 6-4, and set two 7-6 after an 8-6 tiebreaker.
Mack defeated Zuern at No. 4 singles. Mack won set one 6-3 but Zuern bounced back with a 6-0 set two victory. Mack came back in the third to win 7-6 after a 7-5 tiebreaker.
At No. 5 singles, Smith took down Pablo Tellez 6-1, 6-2. Yet, Bernardo Craveiro knotted the match up at 3 points with a two set victory over James Flynn 6-3, 6-2.
North Florida earned the winning point as Findel-Hawkins defeated Phillips in three sets. Phillips bounced back in set two to win 7-5 after Findel-Hawkins took set one, 6-4. Yet, Findel-Hawkins secured the point with a 6-2 set three win.
With the loss, the Spartans fall to 7-3 on the season. With the win, the Ospreys improve to 5-8 on the season.
The Spartans will remain in the Sunshine state this week as they take on Central Florida Friday, March 14 at 2 p.m.